AFC works to change education policy so that the public school system serves all children effectively. We publish policy reports and data analyses, testify at the City and State levels, speak out in the press to bring attention to the challenges facing the students and families we serve, and join with other advocates, parents, youth, and educators to call for change.
428 Results Found
This 2006 report by AFC and the New York Immigration Coalition revealed serious lapses in the provision of language assistance services to parents with limited English proficiency.
This 2006 report found that the New York City Department of Education (DOE) must increase its efforts to ensure the protection of homeless students’ legal rights to education. The report underscores the importance of providing education to children and youth experiencing homelessness and the need for increased coordination among city agencies and the DOE to provide services to these students.
This 2006 policy brief provides an analysis of NYC Department of Education (DOE) statistics regarding student eligibility and enrollment in Supplemental Education Services (SES) and outlines the results of a survey of all 2004-05 DOE-approved SES Providers.
This report examines the results of a survey to determine whether many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in New York City experience a safe and supportive learning environment. The report also examines the current state of the law meant to protect students from harassment and discrimination in schools.
This report examines the graduation outcomes of the more than 170,000 children currently classified as having disabilities and in need of special education services in New York City, based on federal, state, and city data from the school years between 1996-97 and 2003-04.
AFC first piloted the Project Achieve model at Louise Wise Services (LWS), a private preventive services and foster care agency in New York City, from the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2004. Our work at LWS demonstrated that the project is a viable, effective model, capable of replication at any child welfare agency.
This 2005 article, written by AFC Deputy Director Elisa Hyman and published in the Clearinghouse REVIEW Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, describes the efforts undertaken by AFC to address the push-out problem in New York City.
This 2005 article, published in the Clearinghouse REVIEW Journal of Poverty Law and Policy and written by AFC Executive Director Jill Chaifetz and Program Associate Rachel Kravitz, describes research that demonstrates why retention policies are damaging to students and presents methods for advocating against retention.
This paper analyzes 25 years of research documenting the failure of single-test retention policies, looking in particular depth at New York City’s past failed retention policies and the current data on Chicago’s retention policy. The paper was accompanied by a sign-on letter in opposition to the Mayor’s announced policy to hold back fifth graders on the sole basis of their scores on standardized tests.
This 2004 report by AFC and the New York Immigration Coalition examines the role of Parent Coordinators and their ability to serve the needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents.